Water Nation Nomads and The Earth
by A Creative Novice
Summary: Until his father and cousin come for a visit, Lu Ten had been having a quiet life in the Southern Water Tribe with his airbender wife and multi bender kids. Then the Avatar shows up and suddenly his kids, the Avatar, and the Chief's kids have all flown off. But at least he can finally introduce his wife reconnect with his family as Zuko pursues the Avatar across the world. T safe
1. Chapter 1

It was stupid, really. The war.

Everything was out of balance, and Lu Ten feared the repercussions would soon catch up to his nation. His family, of course, refused to see anything beyond their greed; not even his father would listen to his concerns. Lu Ten knew he could not allow his father to achieve his vision of conquering Ba Sing Se; knew what he had to do to ensure that the Earth Kingdoms capital would not fall into the Fire Nations clutches. The worst part was, it would be so easy to fake his own death. His resources reported his uncle was conspiring to get his only nephew killed, he was in the front lines of a war zone, and nobody would question it if his body never turned up. It would look like the ground had swallowed him whole, along with a few of his closest friends. A couple of his allies would remain behind to report the 'tragedy' to his General father, who would, so overcome with grief at losing his only child, halt the siege on the great city. The troops would pull out and Lu Ten would disappear to the Southern Water Tribe with his beloved wife and perfect son, making pit stops along the way as his friends went their own ways.

One of them, a fellow by the name of Flyd, planned to go to Omashu and work there as a tailor. His friends used to tease Flyd about his eye for detail and impressive ability to find the right outfit for everyone. Already, he had a small store ready with his personal chambers directly above, and his earth nation girlfriend was waiting for him there. Another of his friends, Lady Faith, was planning on settling down in a monastery that specialized in perfumes. At first, it was rather baffling how a woman like her could go into something so peaceful and girly, but soon it became clear just how tired Faith was of the war, of politics, of everything pertaining to her old life. Faiths little sister, Hope, was planning to go to Kyoshi Island to become one of their warriors, fitting perfectly with her desire to be independent and strong in a world of men. Nylo was retreating to the Eastern Air Temple to work with the inventor that had taken up residency there; his brothers Lee and Li were following him with their families. Lu Ten would be sad to see them go; to keep up contact would be dangerous, but they all agreed it was for the best. If the need should arise, they could get in touch.

But what pulled at his heart the most was the loss of his own family. As dysfunctional as they were, he loved them. It pained him to leave behind his father, to condemn him to a life without his child; he would always yearn for his fathers warm embrace on cold days, always need his sage advice in times of trouble, always love him to the ends of the earth. He mourned the loss of his grandfathers warm gaze filled with a promise to protect, something the man reserved only for him, his eldest grandchild, and Iroh, his oldest and favorite son. Firelord Azulon only had had a second child incase Iroh was to die; it was no secret that Azulon did not love his second wife or his second son, Ozai. To be perfectly honest, Lu Ten did not like his uncle much either; he was the only person in the family he was not sorry to cut ties with. Ozai didn't like him either, if the order to assassinate him was anything to go by.

He would miss Aunt Ursa and her gentle disposition. How she had become a second mother to him after his own had died in childbirth. She had been there for him for as long as he could remember, but he was now willingly leaving her in the dust. At least she had Zuko and Azula. His precious baby cousins. Zuko, he knew, would be upset at his supposed death, but Azula…. he worried for her. His little blue flame would be devastated at the loss of her only confident, and he would be devastated at the loss of the young girl he considered somewhere between a daughter and a little sister. Lu Ten was reasonably sure he was the only person to ever show Azula unconditional love. Her mother, while Lu Ten loved her, could not see past the princesses outer shell of cruelty that she showed the world. But it wasn't cruelty, not really. It was just a little girl trying to keep her father's approval since her mother only ever gave her disappointment. It was a little girl showing how strong she was to the world that only ever beat her down. Her father, on the other hand, only loved Azula as much as he would love a particularly powerful and destructive weapon. Sure, he praised her firebending, and told her how much better than everyone else she was, told her he loved her, but Lu Ten knew the moment Azula faltered, that 'love' would vanish. Zuko was as terrible a big brother as she was a little sister, always putting her down, shoving Ursa's obvious preference for him in her face. Once, he had told his older cousin that ever since Azula started bending, he either wished he was an only child or that something horrible would happen to his little sister so he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. Wouldn't have to live in her shadow, more accurately. But Lu Ten didn't blame Zuko, he could understand how he would feel that way. It just did not make it right. Meanwhile her uncle, his father, insisted on treating her like a normal prissy little girl, which she was decidedly not. Honestly, Lu Ten did not know what was going through his mind when he decided to send her and Earth Kingdom fashion doll. Thankfully, Lu Ten found out before he could send it and added his own letter detailing the battle tactics and a present of an advance earth bending scroll with the caption 'know thy enemy'. He knew she would like his gifts a whole lot more.

Maybe he could send her anonymous birthday presents or something. She had a long, hard road ahead of her, and he had no doubt his uncle Ozai would do his best to manipulate her even further. A few pick me ups here and there would not go amiss. Hopefully. Lu Ten wished he could take her with him, but it was impossible. Disappearing from the battlefield was one thing, but a heavily guarded palace? He would be found out, something the world at large could not afford. The freedom of the Earth Kingdom, and quite possibly the Water Tribes, depended on discretion. If the wrong person were to find out before the time came, if the time came, all his and the rest of his Orders carefully laid plans would fall to ruin. And yet… he could not leave her without a goodbye. with this in mind, he sat down at he desk to draft a letter.

To My Blue Flame,

Things here are going well, but I fear they will not remain that way for rvvy long. Recently, I have felt a foreboding sense hanging over me like a dark cloud. Something is about to happen; what I cannot say. But to be safe, should I perish in this endless war, you get first pick of my stuff, even before Father. In return, I ask that you follow what you feel is right and become the best fire bender that has ever lived. Remember that I love you, forever and always; I wish you had been born my sister instead of not listen to what anyone says about you being a weak girl, or a cruel monster, because you are neither. You are a strong young lady. Do what you must to protect your flame of determination and promise and faith. Fight tooth, nail, and fire for your beliefs and know that I will never truly leave you in this world. Distance may separate us for as long as we both shall live, but I will love you, no matter what. Make your own opinions, don't decide your opinion based solely on other people's, not even your fathers. Create your flames with the knowledge that fire is the element of new beginnings, not destruction. or power.

Love Your Cousin,

Crown Prince Lu Ten

It wasn't great, but it was something. In his heart, Lu Ten knew that it wouldn't really help quell Azula's grief, but maybe it would guide her as she grew older. Sighing heavily, he pushed back his chair and stood. If he wanted the letter to get to her before word of his death, he had better send it now. Wearily, he tracked down a messenger bird, tying the paper securely to its outstretched leg.

"Lu?", He heard as he sent the bird off. Turning, he saw Faith and Hope dressed in their full armor, grim expressions on their otherwise blank features. They were a picture of tauntingly dangerous beauty, the sun rising dutifully behind them, swords stopped securely to their sides and dark hair flowing alluringly in the wind. Sometimes Lu Ten wondered if the reason the sisters were such good fighters was because their opponent was so busy staring at them, they never saw their immediate demise coming until it was far too late.

"Hmm?" He was too tired to form real words.

Taking a slight breath, Hope murmured, "It's almost time, you should get ready." Lu Ten heard the double meaning as clearly as he saw the sunrise. His energy suddenly restored, he tensed. Nodding, he left their company to double check his preparations were finished before pulling his own armor on. All the while he tried to empty his mind of anything but the sounds of his mens laughter and the feeling the rising sun had on his chi. When he finally reemerged from his personal tent some hours later, he found the twelve faces that were aiding in his mission to end the war staring back at him. Six of them would not be returning to the camp. If he didn't know what was going to happen, he would say that these soldiers seemed unusually determined, not a hint of hesitance in any of their eyes. Smiling a bit, Lu Ten concluded he had chosen his friends wisely.

"Let's go." He said, walking towards the place they would meet with the rest of his regiment. They followed.

Later, after an unnecessary number of speeches, a lot of running around trying desperately to get the troops into position, and missing his breakfast, Lu Ten found himself standing outside of his father's tent. Just like Azula, it would not do to leave him without saying goodbye. Steeling himself, he knocked on the frame of the tent, hearing the unmistakable sound of his fathers voice mutter a faint ' come in'. Not a thought was spared to the lavish silk bed, or the golden knick knacks, or even the plans spread over a large table. Lu Ten only had eyes for his father. For a while, he simply stood watching him, committing his every feature to memory and bitterly wishing that it didn't have to be this way. It took his father a while to drag his mind far enough away from his battle plans to realize he had company. A jolly smile lit up the older mans face as he said, "Ah, my son! What brings you here? Is something wrong? Or did a nice young lady finally catch your eye?". Iroh winked at his son for the last sentence, who treated him to a exasperatedly fond chuckle.

"What, a son cannot spend quality time with his old man anymore? " He teased good naturedly.

Iroh's eyes narrowed at him. "He can, but that is not your true intention, is is?"

Gasping dramatically, Lu Ten declared, "Oh no! You have caught me, father. What I really wanted was your jasmine tea. I am afraid to say that these military cooks just don't understand the beauty and elegance of tea making! A truly pitiful way to live."

"Indeed." said Iroh with the all solemness of a man discussing death, "But at least we know the truth. Now come, before the sugar seeps into it too much." Smiling gratefully, Lu Ten took the porcelain cup that was offered, savoring the delicious tea. Closing his eyes, he relished the last moments with his father. "Hey Dad," he started," You know I love you, right? I think you are the best parent a kid could have." He kept his golden eyes firmly on his cup as he spoke, not used to discussing his feelings.

Setting his own cup down, Iroh asked, "What brought this on?"

"Nothing, really. It's just…..well, we are in a war zone where one of us could quite possibly die and I simply wanted you to know that I love you, and I am so proud to call you my father. To thank you for holding when I cried, for listening to my troubles even when yours were a million times bigger, for always making time for me no matter how many other, more important things you had to do. Thank you for teaching me Pai Sho, and firebending, and how to brew tea, and how to wield a sword. Thank you so much for loving me the way you do. If I could turn back time, I don't think I would, because you've alway made sure I had the best life I could, and helped me grow into a man you could be proud of. I just want to make sure, if something happens to me, that you will go on living. Mourn, cry, go home, do what you need to do, and then let me go. And take care of Zuko for me, would you? He's going to need some help along the way, I can already tell. And don't forget me, because I will never ,in a million years, forget you...Promise me."

He didn't dare look up. At least, not until he heard the crying. Then, he barely had a moments warning before his father launched himself onto him, mumbling incoherent things all the while squeezing his son to him. From what Lu Ten could make out, his father loved him, nothing was more important to him, he was the best thing that had ever happened to him, don't talk like that, he could never forget him and of course he would take care of Zuko if Lu Ten couldn't. In between there was at least half an hour of crying and then they had to spend another half hour making it look like the famed Dragon of the West had not just cried his heart out. Easier said than done, Lu Ten discovered.

And then, it was time to fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I forgot to put this on the last chapter:**

**Disclaimer, I own nothing you recognize from ****The Last Airbender!** **It all belongs to Nickelodeon and the writers **

Snow crashed harshly against the block of ice that was the Southern Water Tribes. Small igloos sheltered huddled families from the extreme snowstorm beyond the frozen walls. The world outside was a blank canvas,slowly becoming darker as the sun, presumably as it was utterly impossible to see the fiery ball, fell lower in the sky. Nobody in the tiny village was particularly bothered over the harsh weather, at least, no more than they would be if they had to wait until after dinner for dessert. Wrapped in furs, Lu Ten, the ex-Crown Prince of the Fire Nation sat with his wife, Emiko, and their four children in the comfort of his own icy home. He smiled warmly at his family, a content light in his eyes as he told them all of his misadventures growing up in the Fire Nation. Li and Rin, his youngest, were giggling delightedly at his exaggerated facial expressions, occasionally changing the family member they were snuggling with. Irohko, the middle child, was loudly interrupting to ask any and every question that happened to fly through his unusually inquisitive mind, waving his hands around vigorously so as to be sure Lu Ten fully understood exactly what the four year old was asking him. Meanwhile the eldest of the children sat on the opposite side of the hearth from Iroko, bundled in furs and cautious not to be whacked in the face by his younger brother. It had happened enough times for Azulo to always sit in front of Iroko, instead of beside him. Emiko sat smiling with her husband's arm curled around her waist, her head resting comfortably on his broad shoulder. They were all gathered around the hearth, which Lu Ten was using to help tell his stories by creating shapes with the bright flames.

The family always did this right before bed. At first, the ritual had started as a way to calm Azulo's nightmares before he fell asleep, back when he was still on the run with his parents. His father's soothing baritone and the warmth of the fire always set him at ease, just as it did seven years later with Iroko when he was born, and two years after that with the twins. Sometimes Lu Ten would recount childhood stories, other times he would tell old Fire Nation legends, and every now and then Emiko would speak of her own family, who had all perished years ago. Azulo would always just sit and listen quietly, his golden eyes attentive, while Iroko would incessantly ask questions and the twins would move from person to person until they got too tired. Eventually, one by one, the four child benders would drift off into a peaceful sleep, closely followed by their parents.

"Wait, Daddy", Iroko broke off his father for the thousandth time, although nobody seemed to mind. The raven haired child had his chubby hand out in front of him, palm facing outwards. His eyes, gold with a silver ring, were in their natural state: wide and curious," Why didn't Auntie 'Zula like the flowers Grandpa Iroh gave her?"

"I wike fwowers. They're weally pwetty and- and they smwell nice too. I wish we had more." Rin cut in from her current position curled on Azulo's lap; Li nodded in enthusiastic agreement. The twins always agreed on everything, a trait which was as much a curse as it was a blessing. If one of them didn't like something, the other didn't like it. On the other hand, if one of them loved something, so did the other. However, both could quickly be swayed if one of their family members, and it was only their brothers and parents this applied to, tried to convince them of another train of thought.

"Yeah! Fwowers are cowerful!" Li exclaimed. Jumping up, the twins pranced around eachother for a while, carrying on about how beautiful flowers were. For a couple of two year olds, they were remarkably graceful in their movements, almost like dancers. Emiko, half proud and half terrified someone would discover it, claimed it was their airbending heritage.

Azulo, though interested in Li and Rin's performance, pouted at the loss of warmth his baby sister provided, knowing that she probably wouldn't sit down next to him again for a while. He liked sitting with her the most out of all of his siblings, because she was the quietest, and if she wasn't being silent, she sometimes liked to sing softly. Even at her two years of age, Azulo found comfort in her soprano voice, closing his eyes and letting it wash over him, taking his worries away. He knew he had more things weighing on his mind than most other seven year olds, so for Rin to take it all away for even just a moment and let him be plain Azulo, a normal twelve year old Water Tribe boy was his idea of heaven. Memories of Earth Kingdom towns going up in flames, his friends trapped inside the wreckage, and their screams as they burned had not left him in the years since they had occurred. Often, he would wake up and think he was back on a small row boat hidden in the early morning mists common in Earth Kingdom lakes, escaping from a war his ancestors had started and most of his kin still pursued.

Iroko laughed loudly across from him, startling Azulo from his darker musings, the five year old's coal black hair falling gracefully into his silver and golden eyes as he threw his head back grandly, belly shaking. His smile stretched across his chubby face, filled with an innocence and joy only he could ever seem to achieve. Irohko got out of more trouble than he should have been able to with that smile. Full of innocence as he may be, he was just as overflowing with playful mischief. His good cheer was contagious, and soon all the rest were laughing with him.

"Dada, Dada! Wha's yowr fwa'rite ki'dha fwower?" Rin demanded as she scrambled onto her father's warm lap. Li and Irohko looked on in interest as a slightly melancholy look entered Lu Ten's eyes.

"I like Fire Lilies." He said wistfully, the shadows prominent in his hawkish eyes, "They are red and gold, with large petals. Father and I used to go pick them in the mountains whenever we could escape the palace. Then we would take the top and put it into a stream, watching them float away." Suddenly, a mischievous smile lit up his face, hiding some of the darkness lingering around him, and causing his children to lean forward in preparation for what would surely be an amusing tale.

"Why there was this time when we…"

And on the story went, with laughter and joyful screeches and Lu Ten making figures in the fire as he wove his fable. Catching his wife's eye, he gifted her with a small, honest smile, full of kept promises, unyielding love, and content with this new life they had created together. Times like these, and there were many, made him think it was entirely worth it to abandon everything he had ever known, and most of what he stood for, to protect the world and his new family. The pain and guilt of losing his father, who loved him more than life, his cousins, who he worried about constantly, his aunt, beautiful on all accounts, and his grandfather, who perished shortly after news of his favored grandchild's death reached him ( Lu Ten had some theories about his demise , but didn't dare say them out loud), was outweighed by his love for his children, his wife, and his tribe. As a supposedly dead member of the royal family, he could not risk going off the fight with the rest of the Tribe's men, and, thus, Hakoda had assigned him as the temporary guardian of the women and children left behind. In the beginning there had been a number of naysayers, but he had proven Hakoda's judgement to be, as usual, spot on when a rare Sea King came to destroy to village and have it's inhabitants for lunch. The end result was enough meat to feed the villagers for nearly a year.

Lu Ten and Emiko just figured it was better than the mistrust and high tensions after they had first been outed to the general public as a firebender and the wife of a firebender, even if sharing some of the Fire Nation's secret plans helped. Having a firebender within the Tribe was more than enough to open old wounds; Lu Ten was sympathetic. After all, was the reason the South Poles inhabitants hated him on sight, not the very same reason he had seen fit to break his father, and his cousin's, hearts? He did not blame them for anything. Still, not blaming them was not quite the same as not cursing his fate whenever he went to bed after a long day of cold glares and vicious remarks .

Azulo had had a hard time of it as well, since the children had picked up on their parents distaste for the newcomers and had bullied him mercilessly. However, they had not necessarily counted on the fact that Azulo was used to this behavior from his peers, and was honestly far more concerned with the imminent arrival of a new sibling. The village children could push him, but he would never fall down. They could try to put snow in his clothes, but he seemed to have a bully radar that told him when things were going to happen and react appropriately. A few times they even tried to get him into troubled with the adults, but he always twisted their words until they got so frustrated, they yelled out what they had been trying to do. That was, for the Water Tribe's youngsters, the worst, because then Azulo would raise one immaculate black eyebrow, before politely bowing to the child and whatever adult was involved, turn, and head back towards his mother. Azulo could not be bullied physically and a verbal attack was always turned back on the tormentor, so eventually the other children gave up, opting instead to just ignore him. Unfortunately, Azulo had a long memory and did not forgive easily, so when things finally settled down, the boy still shunned all social interaction with anyone not his family.

As if to make up for his elder brothers avoidance of the Tribe, Irohko thrived around people. He was immensely popular in their little community, drawing people to his bright and cheerful personality; he was the warm, comforting flame and they, the curious moths. Grievously, there were few children in the Tribe, and, over time, many moved away to places more plentiful. The vast majority of the older ones had tragically been massacred in an attack by the Fire Nation some years previous. Between people leaving the Tribe and the Massacre, only the chief's two children, Sokka and Katara, remained. Irohko got on especially well with Katara, and tolerated her older brother, Sokka, who had never quite gotten over how they were allowed to stay in the South Pole or an incident when Azulo had gotten him into trouble with his grandmother. Azulo, it should be noted, regretted precisely nothing while Irohko regretted enough for both of them.

By the time the twins came around, Irohko had successfully dispelled all remaining hostilities among the children, and, when not in lessons, the duo was free to dart between both of their brothers, their parents, and their peers as they pleased. To their neverending horror, however, their parents were of the opinion that it was unquestionably vital that all of their children know not only how to behave as a member of the royal family of the Fire Nation, politics, manners, and all, but they needed to know how to blend in seamlessly in anyplace they may find themselves. Subsequently, most of their time was spent learning from either their parents or Azulo, who had enough worldly experience to be considered an Adult in his own right. At least, by his younger sibling's standards (Of course, his siblings also believed seven year old Azulo ought to be Fire Lord, and it appeared unlikely they would change their opinions anytime soon).

Despite their isolation from the rest of the world, Emiko remained uncomfortable in utilizing her bending powers. Ergo, she spent an uncommonly large amount of time away from the rest of the Tribe using varying excuses in order to keep her airbending skills in peak condition. She pacentially taught her children the ways of the Air Nomads: peace, disregard of material goods, and freedom. Her lessons stuck better to some than others. Previously a very difficult person to anger, surprising given one of his elements was fire, Azulo could now get very violent if he felt one of his siblings was threatened and his words were not making a difference fast enough. Irohko was always altogether too fascinated with _things,_ ranging from a bear tooth, to an especially fluffy pelt, to colorfully painted bowls, he liked stuff. Worse, he was a hoarder. Finally, his adoration of mischief was too potent for peace. As for her youngest, it was a touch too early to tell, but she thought they might have inherited her Airbending.

Strangely, neither Azulo nor Irohko were Airbenders. Azulo was both a firebender and an earthbender, a conundrum that nearly gave his parents heart attacks when they finally came out of denial and admitted their son could bend earth just as well as he could bend fire. Such an impossibility had never been recorded before. Only the Avatar could wield more than one element. For a few, terrible years, Lu Ten and Emiko feared their son was the next Avatar; then Irohko was born, sickly due to the conflicting elements he held within his soul: fire and water. For the first couple of years, it was a struggle, getting his body to accept both elements as equal parts of him, but it did dissipate fears of Azulo's supposed status as an Avatar. Lu Ten took comfort in that, when at last Irohko mastered his bending, he would be strong day and night. As it was, he was perfectly fine until he started to try to practice his powers. At that point, his immune system would seemingly shut down; Irohko was bedridden more often that anyone was happy with, yet he would always grin widely and say something exasperation, like: "No pain, no gain!", or, on outstandingly bad days, "Give me some tea. Tea will fix it."

As for the Tribe, they knew of Azulo and Lu Ten's firebending, but nothing else. Only Hakoda was aware of Azulo's double bending, but they had been unable to safely contact him with news of Irohko's abilites. The second child's illness was played off as a consequence of the difficult journey to the South Pole and Emiko's body having trouble adjusting to the new, frozen climate. The idea was not too farfetched, and was thus accepted without much fuss.

**Yes, I know. No art form after the first paragraph whatsoever. And it has been a year. To be fair, I did not actually spend that year working on this. More like a few hours.**

**Review. Don't reveiw. But if you do, and you have a problem, point out the exact nature of the problem politely. ( Of course, I can't talk about manners, mine are questionable at best.) **

**In any case, I hope you liked it, or, at the very least, it did not rot your brain. My sincere apologies if it did.**

**Thank you to the Guest who told me it was the Northern Air Temple the inventor was set up in and not the Eastern Air Temple. I will change it….as soon as technology and I can come to an agreement.**


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